When, where and why did you begin blogging?

Eduardo Benito and I met in the audiovisual department at a communication agency. Every Thursday, a group of us from work would get together for a glass of wine at a bar around the corner to chat and generally share ideas about new projects, current news, etc.,- eventually calling it “Wine Thursdays”.

These weekly get togethers shed light on an idea to create a video program based on a theme for the internet. Clearly, as a result of our Thursday topic, it was an obvious choice to choose “the world of wine” as our main subject matter. And because we knew that this project would take a considerable amount of effort, we wanted to make sure that we chose a subject we were incredibly passionate about. Hence, wine was an obvious choice.

This was the seed that started Vinus TV - television with a better bouquet- which began airing on the 1st of August in 2007.

In a few short sentences, summarize your intention with your wine blog.

When we were creating Vinus, we realized that there was a significant gap on the Internet of audiovisual content in Spanish about the subject of wine as a whole. For us, it was important to fill that space. We wanted to describe the cultural context of wine both in Spain and around the world through video. Our goal is to share current news, events, reports, tastings or any innovative idea and concept in the world of enology.

How would you describe your readers?

Our audience includes everyone from wineries to wine bloggers to wine companies, and from wine geeks to wine lovers. We are convinced that video has a considerable amount of potential, capable of getting people “hooked” on the topic of wine so that they’re waiting anxiously for the next episode.

Is blogging a professional endeavor for you or more of a personal outlet?

From a personal standpoint, our main motivation is to make Vinus Television fun. Coupled with this is the advantage of learning about and enjoying the wines we love, which previously, we didn’t have easy access to before we started this adventure.

However, we also don’t want to hide the fact that our goal is also to make Vinus TV profitable through our professional content, by way of sponsorships through companies in the wine sector. We have provided them with highest quality programming produced in High Definition, which are then compressed for their final destination. Our Web videos can be downloaded to a mobile device or Apple TV with a higher level of quality than traditional television PAL / NTSC.

What tools or resources have you found to be successful in marketing your blog?

At the moment, the major part of our promotion occurs through the Internet. Our videos are shown through several different media platforms for video. Additionally, we have created a code for people to embed our videos on their websites and blogs that is available through our Vinus TV website.

We also use Twitter, Flicker and Facebook, in addition to other Web 2.0 tools to further our presence online.

This said, we do believe that traditional media still holds more weight in attracting the general public, as the general public is still adapting its habits to include more online resources.

Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?

The wine industry in Spain is starting to realize the enormous potential of wine blogs and are slowly opening their eyes to this extremely powerful marketing tool; however, they are not fully convinced of the real impact this new media will create in the near future. Those companies that are still reluctant to adopt Web 2.0 technology, don’t realize that those who have adopted it now, will be launched way ahead of the game in the future. Therefore, we are confident that blogs will be seen as a professional form of media in the very near future.

Where do you see wine blogging in 10 years?

We see it as an integral department of any wine company, something normal and habitual, that will aid in improving their product. In a short while, communication will be interactive and dynamic, while lecturing or one directional communication will be obsolete - or so we hope. But in 10 years time, even blogs will have to change their mode of informing their readers, because companies will continue to adopt a new form of communication, whereby adding fuel to the never ending fire of change. The battle never ceases.

What do you hope to gain from this conference?

Someone said that the world blogger is like a labyrinth of mirrors. Their speeches are reflected in each other, but rarely leave this small bubble. This is the challenge we have in the EWBC. Are we capable of generating enough light to the outside world in our large chamber of mirrors so that they can see and learn to value our work. I am confident that this will be an important turning point that will begin a stage of general recognition within the world wineblogging.